(Eagle News) — Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano on Wednesday, Sept. 5, urged the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to not follow what he said was the “illegal order” to arrest Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
“There is no warrant of arrest and there are no charges to begin with,” Alejano said in a statement.
According to Alejano, the PNP and the AFP were “the army of and for the Filipino people.”
“Do not stain the integrity of the military and police before the Filipino people by acting as pawns to a dictator,” Alejano said.
In voiding the amnesty provided to Trillanes, President Rodrigo Duterte, in Proclamation No. 572, cited a certification from the AFP that the proof that the senator had submitted an application for the same was “not available” in the first place.
Duterte added Trillanes did not expressly admit his guilt in the Oakwood Mutiny and Peninsula Manila siege in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
Trillanes has denied this, but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said what was needed was an express admission of guilt in connection with the coup d’etat that took place, and not in connection with a mere uprising.
He said the elements of the two were distinct from each other.
